Staffordshire Universities Maths and English Summer Schools was a pioneering project in the West Midlands that makes education a reality for people who never thought it was possible has won a prestigious national award.
Aimhigher-funded Summer Schools work to raise aspirations and expectations of students from disadvantaged groups or who have no history in their families of further or higher education.
Linda Burgess from Staffordshire University who nominated the wining project said; “The age of our students is upwards of 17, with the oldest learners this year in their 50s. The purpose of the Summer Schools is to work with students who have either never had the opportunity to learn or have been switched off by the system. For example, 14 of the 68 maths students this year had a disability, ranging from Cystic Fibroses to Dyslexia.”
Linda is keen to point out that the learning does not stop with a single qualification. She said: “Some of our students have taken Maths one year then English the next and then progressed to Further Education. Others have gone on to an Access course and are now studying for a degree. How fantastic is that for someone who did not have Maths or English GCSEs!”
Karan Green, Chief Executive of the National Open College Network, said that the Summer School project would give inspiration to adults everywhere. “Over the last 25 years, the Open College Network has helped transform the lives of tens of thousands of people across the UK whose skills might otherwise not have been recognised.
“Like them, the Summer School students understood that learning could lead the way to a better life and they had the strength of mind and bravery to seize the opportunities available to them.”